In today's world, many devices and apparatus which were formerly made of metal or wood are now formed from plastic. In many instances, plastic articles are made using a process known as injection molding. Such a technique allows for the rapid and efficient manufacture of plastic articles and devices, greatly reducing the cost of such articles over similar articles of metal or wood construction. Further, plastic articles are typically lightweight, durable, and capable of being permeated with a color, rather than simply having the color applied as a coating.
Presently, injection nozzles are used for injecting liquid plastic into molds. A mixer is commonly used to blend a color pigment through the plastic before it is injected into the mold in an attempt to achieve a homogeneous color. However, known mixers and nozzles are both inefficient and ineffective in achieving such a homogeneous blend of color pigment into the plastic, requiring large amounts of energy in the mixing process, and excessive amounts of pigment to compensate for the lack of a total blend. Using presently known mixers, the resulting plastic is often characterized by streaks of heavy pigment and light pigment areas.